The Rose Clan
by Charles Kirby
Summary: Yoshimitsu, leader of the Manji clan meets up with an old friend who isn't so friendly.


The Rose Clan  
  
Charlie Kirby  
  
Disclaimer: Yoshimitsu is trademarked character of Namco. I am not using him for any self money making stuff blah blah blah.  
  
In a dark room, four figures sat a table with a single glowing ball in the center of them. All had some kind of humanoid shape, but something was just not quite right. There was one man, who looked almost normal except for the horns coming from his shoulders and his spiked forearms. He spoke.   
  
"Yoshimitsu, sir, the men of our clan are growing concerned with the Rose Clan. Their interference has become more frequent and more violent. We have already lost two of our men to them."  
  
One of the figures listening turned to spiked man. Now this one looked almost nothing like a man, his skin was scaly, his teethe sharp and jagged, his shape so large that if you saw him you would assume he be the leader of this clan. "What do they want, Krillen? Money? Power?"  
  
"No, Fetel," the third figure said. He looked more like man the last, but not more than the first. His face was white and beginning to show muscle tissue, his eyes dark and glowing. "They want vengeance. Only me and the Shaman were here long enough to remember them. If they are as they were those many years ago, there will be only one answer to them, and it will spill much blood. So let us be sure of ourselves, yes, Shaman?" The dark cloaked figure across the table looked up and nodded its hidden head. "Here is what we shall do. We are going to attempt a raid on the Yohong Manor outside of Shinjko. Shaman will stay here to watch over the fortress and I will come to find out about this new clan. Let us be off!"  
  
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A short pudgy man sat leaned back in a chair in front of several TV screens with pictures of the interior of a large mansion on them. His security badge was soiled in crumbs as his eye lids slowly reached towards each other before finally collapsing upon one another. Only seconds after, five figures passed across the image of the front garden.   
  
"Through the roof, sir?"  
  
"No, through the basement. See the entrance on the side?" The five space ninjas stealth fully stalked along the garden when they heard a whizzing sound above their heads. Then, five ninjas clad in black garb and dark red armor landed in front of them. The five raised their heads and set their naked eyes on the Manji leader, Yoshimitsu.  
  
"So, Yoshimitsu, we finally meet again." You would this man the leader judging by the rose crest on his chest.  
  
"I am not sure, that was a long time ago. How could you be alive still?"  
  
"Oh, I've found ways," he said as he pulled away his mask it revealed what looked like ground up meat, "The treatment cost me a little more than money as you can see, but I will be alive a long, long time." Yoshimitsu stared in astonishment, what kind of 'treatment' was he talking about? His long life was an ancient Manji secret that was carefully guarded.   
  
"What do you want, Zypher." The enemies eyes locked.  
  
"You know what I want."  
  
"Are you sure."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then so be it. We will meet on the fields on the western edge of Serenity Forrest in two days. Dawn." The Rose leader did something with the lower part of his face which must have been a smile, then placed on his mask again. The five Rose ninjas turned and ran into the darkness, their shapes dispersing from sight.  
  
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The four figures sat in the room once again around the same glowing ball.   
  
"Sir, who was that?" Krillen asked his master.   
  
"Yes, I think now we should know." Fetel added.  
  
Yoshimitsu hung his head, then looked up again to the Shaman. "Show them." Suddenly, a dark cloud began to stir inside the glowing ball and a picture of Yoshimitsu and a young warrior appeared. "Long ago, Zypher and I were the leaders of the Manji party. Together, we would raid and return the money to the poor like we do now. Only then, his heart was still pure. Zypher found love in the city. An American woman named Alexis," The ball's picture changed to the narration, "I never met her. Only her name I knew of her. They loved for one year when it happened.   
  
We raiding the mansion an American mobster who had sought refuge in Tokyo. We met many warriors who were guarding the mansion, but one was far stronger than the rest. Zypher fought him alone while I went with the others to accomplish our mission. When we returned, Zypher had won. But it was a bitter victory, for the mysterious warrior was a woman. The daughter of the American mobster, Alexis.   
  
Zypher left the mansion in a rage and hid in the woods. There his aguish burned, it turned to grief, from grief to guilt, from guilt to anger. Hi anger and solitude drove him mad. He believed we abandoned him in his time of sorrow, let him kill Alexis knowing who it was. We saw him one year later, now as the leader of the Rose Clan.   
  
The Rose Clan were killers and thieves. A dishonest and evil clan who stole from whoever had money. And their number one goal was to destroy the Manji Clan. We met many times have small skirmishes, killing many of each other. Zypher wanted a battle, but I would not do so. Time went on, and soon the Rose Clan broke apart because of internal dishonesty and thievery.   
  
And now, he is back with the Rose Clan again. We shall do battle with them. Otherwise he will only continue killing my men and soiling our name. Now, you know the story. Go, alert the men to prepare for battle. And get me my battle armor."  
  
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Yoshimitsu sat atop a white horse, clad in his battle armor and holding his sword in his right hand. He often took the battle armor to tournaments as an alternative or in case anything happened. He was cautious like that. Fifty men stood before him, facing the empty fields ready to spill blood. The two front lines filled with the best hand-to-hand fighters and behind them were the archers and spear throwers. The very tip of the sun could be seen rising in the east.   
  
What sounded like the march of a hundred men came from behind the hill. But only twenty came up. Ten swordsmen, ten archers all clad in the same Rose Clan ninja uniform. Then, the clan leader rode up behind them sitting atop a black horse. He rode past his men and into the center of the field. Yoshimitsu met him.   
  
"Would you like to surrender now?"  
  
"What? You only have twenty men. You will be slaughtered."  
  
"We will see."  
  
"No, we will not. My men are leaving."  
  
"NO! You will stay, and you will fight! This is why I stayed alive all those years, finding these few men who fight with me. You will not leave!"  
  
"You sacrifice the lives of your men for your own satisfaction?"  
  
"No one cares for them. They are all murderers and thieves. It would be in your code to kill them."  
  
"No it is not, I will not battle you."  
  
"Please, Yoshimitsu! My life has been filled with evil, and now I want to die in battle, like a warrior. Be my friend, let me have that honor!"  
  
Yoshimitsu looked into his eyes a second, then nodded. The two turned and went back to their places.   
  
Then sun now was half way up. It was time. The fighters from both clans began marching forward, then began to slowly jog before they charged each other. The two sides came closer and closer then suddenly collided with each other and the battle begun. The Manji and The Rose were equally skilled, but The Rose were outnumbered and quickly fell. The Rose archers readied their arrows by flaming the tips. They rose the arrows, and fired them into the air. Yoshimitsu turned to his fellow leaders and they went forward to join the battle. Yoshimitsu charged through the crowd of warriors looking for who he wanted. Then he saw him, fighting off many warriors. Yoshimitsu called them back as he walked forward.  
  
"I challenge you to a duel, Zypher." Then the two charged and their blades clashed sending sparks into all directions. Their blades clashed again and again, both spinning and dodging and kicking and punching. Then, Yoshimitsu gave the final blow, his glowing green sword stabbing him through the stomach. Zypher looked up to his killer, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth. "I am sorry, but I am not a good man and not a good sport." He reached inside his garbs and pulled out a small bottle and threw at Yoshimitsu. It broke against his hard armor spraying its liquid all over the Manji leader. Then, a single, fiery arrow came from the Rose archers and struck Yoshimitsu sending him up in flames. He turned to run back to his horse before he fainted from the intoxicating fumes.  
  
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Yoshimitsu opened his eyes and looked around his quarters. The Shaman sat next to his bed. "Shaman, what has happened?"  
  
"You burned, my friend. You burned a long time before you were put out. The little flesh you had left is gone. But I was still able to save you with the ancient Manji medicines."  
  
"What of The Rose Clan?"  
  
"They are gone, every one of them are dead now. Our men showed no mercy after they saw you attacked. We are giving them all proper burials now. The ones we knew their names were marked, that was only one."  
  
Yoshimitsu lied there silently for several minutes. Then, the door flung open and a young man came out. "Shaman, sir, the beetle armor is complete and ready for your blessings."  
  
The End 


End file.
